Daniels, who played at Auburn from 1999-2003 and had a 10-year NBA career, takes over for Matt Gatens, who left to become the director of basketball operations at Drake.

"The advantage with Marquis in that position is he gets to be on the floor with the players," Pearl said at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin on Tuesday. "The only people that can actually be on the court with the players is the head coach, the three full-time assistants and the graduate assistants. So bringing Marquis in this position at this time really will allow him to focus on player development and shooting and footwork and getting open and all the different things. I felt that was a part of our staff that we needed to add to."

A two-time All-SEC selection, Daniels averaged 13.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals during his Auburn career, including 18.4 points, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals during his senior season. He had 1,530 career points, is the program's all-time leader with 230 career steals and was named an SEC basketball legend in 2017.

Daniels went undrafted and signed with the Dallas Mavericks in 2003, where he averaged 8.5 points as a rookie. He spent two more years with the Mavericks before being traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he played from 2006-09. He went on to play for the Boston Celtics from 2009-12 and finished his playing career with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2012-13.

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.